Page 107 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

“You can’t just sit here. You’ll freeze to death,” she said aloud. “Get up. Get moving.”

She struggled to stand on her damaged ankle. She hobbled toward the path where she’d seen Morin’s Range Rover.

Each step sent shooting pain up her leg.

Her ankle was on fire.

But she kept going.

Audrey almost wept when she saw the three vehicles lined up along the two-track. She hobbled forward too quickly and fell flat on her belly.

Her face hit the ground. She bit her lip.

Sharp sticks scratched her skin. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek and another down her chin. She used the back of her hand to wipe the blood away.

Audrey pushed herself upright onto her knees. Holding onto the thick trunk of a tree, she pulled herself onto her feet.

With most of her weight on her right foot and managing as well as possible with the left one, she limped all the way to the Range Rover, making slow but steady progress.

The pain in her ankle was constant now, but she blocked it from her mind. Compartmentalize, Brax’s voice admonished in her head.

When she reached the driver’s door of the Range Rover, she managed to open it and fall onto the driver’s seat. Panting, she struggled to pull both legs into the vehicle and close the door.

Audrey stared at the push button start for a horrified moment.

If Morin had taken the key fob, she’d be stuck here. Her painful trek back all for naught.

But he didn’t like to carry things in his pockets and those fobs were bulky.

“Stop thinking about it. Push the starter,” she said.

She fastened her seatbelt and pushed the button. The engine fired up instantly.

Morin had sent his backup detail to the parking lot near the road at the Devil’s Punchbowl gorge.

Audrey pushed a few buttons on the navigation system until she found a route that would take her there. Less than ten minutes travel time.

She pulled her weapon and placed it close enough to grab when she needed it.

Then she flipped on the heat, put the transmission in reverse, and used the backup camera to back slowly and carefully out of the two-track and onto the road.

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Chapter 41

Saturday, June 4

Devil’s Punchbowl, Ontario, CA

Kim drove the SUV along the road toward Hamilton and Russell followed in the sedan. She turned into a busy strip mall with a grocery store and drove around back to the loading dock.

Russell pulled the sedan deep into the lot behind the trash dumpsters and locked it. He tossed the keys into one of the dumpsters. He hoofed to the SUV and plopped into the passenger seat.

“Everything okay back there?” Kim said as she drove out of the lot.

“Yeah. Nobody around.” Russell pulled off his gloves and stuffed them under the seat. “Might be a few days before they find the car and a couple more before they find the bodies.”

“We’ll finish this up and call in before that happens,” Kim replied.

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